


Safe & Sound

by Nishitzu_Hayes



Category: Crysis Series (Video Games)
Genre: Affection, Bonds, Final moments, Gen, I thought it lacked empathy, Last breath, M/M, Rage, Revenge, Songfic, both prophet and psycho believe nomad to be dead, he believes to be dead, mentions of wounds, my take on what happened in the final panels of the comic, raptor team bonding, resignation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-09-28 18:49:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20430743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nishitzu_Hayes/pseuds/Nishitzu_Hayes
Summary: As Nomad lays down on the deck of the ship, bleeding out, Prophet is suddenly faced with the very real possibility of losing another cherished companion.How will he face that situation, moreover considering that the one who's dying is Nomad?





	Safe & Sound

**Author's Note:**

> I read the comic like, a THOUSAND TIMES, and it always left me baffled how, in the end, both Psycho and Prophet leave without even glancing back at Nomad, who is "supposedly" dead. 
> 
> I mean, they have spent COUNTLESS hours together, both in missions, training, and aftermaths, so...it felt a little...cold, I guess? I wanted another take on the situation, one where Prophet's leader attitude is taken from another perspective, a more...humane point of view, since we know he has it in him. (Plus, Nomad actually IS attached to Prophet as both leader and a friend)
> 
> Well, anyway, I actually ship all three of them together, but this can be read either platonic or romantic.

Safe & Sound  


  
If he had to be honest, truly honest, he wouldn’t be able to deny he had wondered, occasionally, about what kind of end would wait him.   
In their line of work, you never knew when the grim reaper would take you, and he was just like any other human, scared, but still curios to a fault.

  
Nomad had imagined a few times what death would bring him, but never, in those scenarios, he had managed to conjure up something quite like this.   
  
Bleeding out in his leader’s strong arms, half lying half propped up in Prophet’s arms, his suit blaring warnings on his visor as he asked himself why exactly he had done what he had done; shielding Psycho and Prophet from the enemy’s rocket had been an instinct, more than a conscious though, but it had brought him to that moment nonetheless.   
  
With Prophet’s deep voice in his ear, urging him to stay awake, and Psycho firing his assault rifle -probably stolen from one of the dead spec-ops guys, since they had been deprived of their gear when they had been brought on board- non stop, the guards dropping one after the others; his teammates were so angry, he realized, but he couldn’t quite place why.   
  
He was dying, there, he knew, but if it meant those whom he cared about would have one more chance at survival, than it wasn’t such a bad way to go.  
  
After a couple of minutes, that actually felt like hours, the fighting finally quieted down; feeling, more than hearing or seeing, the change, Nomad moved his attention -or the remnants of it- back to what was happening around him.   
He didn’t have much more time to go on, but he still wanted to help, to do something.   
  
Always the mission-driven soldier, he was.   
‘Till _death. _

  
_“I remember tears streaming down your face when I said I'll never let you go_

_When all those shadows almost killed your light_

_I remember you said don't leave me here alone_

_But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight”_

_  
  
_Feeling Nomad’s body shifting in his arms, turning, straining to get up, Prophet’s focus suddenly fell back on his mate, instead than on the fighting going on few meters from him; Psycho had the situation under control well enough on his own, so Prophet allowed himself that weakness.   
He was anxious, not that he would ever show it, but having Nomad heavily wounded and probably dying in his arms didn’t help matters, and he just couldn’t…deal.   
He couldn’t shake off the guilt, the ominous thought that all of _this_ was jus his own, damn, fault: if only he had briefed his companions better…if he had given them _all _the information -his reputation be damned- maybe, just maybe, this…slaughter could’ve been prevented; but it was too late now for all the recrimination, so Prophet just pushed his emotions aside, and held his injured companion, keeping him from moving and hurting himself even more.   


«Stay still, idiot, you’re gonna be okay» Prophet voice came, scolding and hard, hiding an undertone of worry that Nomad’s tired ears barely registered; Nomad flinched at the sound, the sheer strength of it making him shiver, before a bitter chuckle escaped his lips, it tasted like blood, and it wasn’t a good sign «C’mon, Prophet. Enough with the lies» he replied, his words coming far quieter that he would’ve liked -he just didn’t have the energy to try anymore, breathing was painful enough- «I’m going to die, soon, and we both know it» that single sentence was sour on his tongue, but Nomad knew it to be the absolute truth, and he was too righteous to hold it back, even if a lie would be more comforting.   
He felt Prophet’s arms tighten around his frame, squeezing him hard, but Nomad didn’t comment on that gesture, he hadn’t meant to be mean, or maybe he had; they were silent for a heartbeat, before Prophet voiced his reply «I’m sorry» it was little more than a whisper, but Nomad heard it anyway.   
He understood.   
In those few syllables was Prophet’s guilt, his regret, meant only for his ears; it brought onto him the realization that he was _really _going to die, and if before he had been curious of what would come, the perspective of death still far away enough not to be worrying, now Nomad was starting to feel scared, the coldness and the darkness creeping onto him, griping him with their unrelenting, skeletal, fingers.   
The hourglass was running out of sand.

  
«It doesn’t matter, not really» choked out Nomad, and Prophet must have heard something change in his voice, because he lifted his injured companion more, so that he was resting comfortably against his shoulder, holding him with all his might -as if it would’ve been enough to stop something inevitable- before saying «Don’t worry, I won’t let you go. I got you» and his steady tone, now devoid of anything negative, almost warm, made tears well up in Nomad’s eyes; it made him feel secure, wanted…it reassured him that he wouldn’t have to die alone.   
That he would be never alone.   
«Please» he all but sobbed, breaths coming short now, as it was becoming harder to breathe, harder to stay awake «Don’t leave me alone»; Prophet reacted immediately to that, almost closing in on Nomad’s body, wrapping his companion in himself, close, so close that they could’ve been one, if it only had been possible, his own heart breaking, because for all the weird powers the nanosuit had granted him, it left him useless when faced with the death of someone he cared for.  
  
«Don’t worry, it will go away. It’s almost over. I’m with you»   
  
Prophet managed not to cry when pronouncing those phrase only thanks to his harsh training, that had made his resilient against almost anything; but inside, where he couldn’t hide behind practiced procedures and hard realism, he was shattering: Nomad had managed to wreak destruction inside him, one way or the other, and while in any other circumstance Prophet would have been more than happy to let him, this time it was something irreversible, totally different.   
It wounded him, undid him at the seams, and he couldn’t stop it.   


_  
_ _“Just close your eyes, the sun is going down_

_You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now_

_Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound”_

A pause, a heartbeat, a moan, then nothing, silence.   
Dread crept up Prophet spine.   
Was it time, already? It had come too soon, too fast for his liking.

«Prophet…» then his code name, and Prophet had never been more happy to hear than in that single moment; it was what came after that gave him the finishing blow «I really…» it was strained, barely audible, but Nomad tried his best, as he always did, frustration and urgency bleeding slowly in his whispers and groans «want…» another pause, another lunge at Prophet’s heart, his ribcage felt broken, his breaths hitching in his throat «you to know, that I don’t resent you» a reprise, Prophet nodded, to show that he was paying attention, but he did not dare interrupt; they had such few, precious, instants left.   
«It doesn’t matter anymore.» clarified Nomad, almost serene now, resignation settling in, emotions leaving him drained, rattled and without any will to fight; he had fought so much already, he deserved rest.   
«I...Prophet, I, both you and Psycho…» but alas, time, unyielding and cruel was against them and Nomad suddenly cut off before he could finish whatever he was trying to communicate with his last breath; his body slumped, his hands, that had come up as if trying to touch Prophet’s familiar features, fell down, strength leaving them motionless, akin to a puppet’s limbs whose strings had been cut.   
  
Prophet felt like screaming, rage coming like an unexpected tsunami, submerging his consciousness and drowning any reason left in him; still, he gently laid Nomad’s lifeless body onto the cold steel of the deck, and carefully picked up the closest weapon to him –a shotgun- before making his way to the responsible of all that stupid disaster.   
He wanted to kill all the goons and their master.   
He wanted to annihilate the Cephs whom had forced them to go on that godforsaken island.   
He wanted revenge.   
  
And he would have it.   
  
But before he left Nomad’s body behind to go and fetch Psycho, to deliver their guest to his demise, he took one last look at his cherished companion.   
  
«You’ll be safe now, I promise. No one can hurt you now, and I’ll make sure no one ever will».

**Author's Note:**

> This work is totally unbeta'd so every mistake is my own. 
> 
> The song used for this fanfic is Safe and Sound by The Civil Wars and Taylor Swift (from The Hunger Games Soundtrack).
> 
> Thank you for reading!!!


End file.
